Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Do you know what happens when I fall in love with a new collection that contains trees and leaves?
I can't help it but create a family tree at once!
This is exactly what happened with this new Premier collection called "Poetic Garden"
It immediately inspired me to create this Artsy family tree for one of my boys on a 12x12 page!

There are many other beautiful collections that were just added to the already amazing art collections available on the website... I can see more artistic family trees coming!

Monday, September 28, 2009

It has now more videos and more ways to make your experience fun and engaging!

You can already start creating the new products, like the photo bracelets or the swatch books, or even the board book! My husband likes the new swatch book so much that he already opened a project, ready to create one for him to brag about our kids!;)

I especially love that the template embedding function is back, so I am already playing with it and I already added one of the projects I created some time ago at the end of this blog!(scroll down to end of all the posts to see it, or click here to have the full preview)

You can now magnify your view, change the background for a more personalized view of the project, and you can SHARE it through email, website or blog! YEAH!
Oh, and don't forget that you can always just share the link to your project preview on any social network like facebook, twitter or linkeIn or any other one!
This is how the email you would send your friends when you want to share a project you are creating or a template you like, will look:

Isn't it great?
I can't wait to start creating projects with the new products! What should I start first? The swatch book? The photo bracelet? The board book? The new format calendar? I just want to create them all!!!^_^
It's so fun with our software, and the new look just makes me want to create even more!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

You are the only one that can tell your loved ones who you really are.

Your life experiences, your trials, your successes, your mistakes, your challenges and how you dealt with everything will teach your children, your posterity, and they will gain a greater perspective of not only who you are, but who THEY are.

Your journey to your FAMILY HISTORY preservation starts right here, right now, with YOU.

Family reunions areheld any time of the year, and are the perfect occasion to get back in touch with family members, know what they have been up to and also discover if they have any family picture that others might not have. If you would like copies of the photos your relatives have, but they aren't willing to let them out of their sight, ask them to bring them to your family reunion and I can scan everybody's treasured photos right there at your reunion. Everyone gets a copy of everyone's pictures and everyone goes home with their special photos- it's a win win for everyone!

Friday, September 18, 2009

So, my 5 year old was playing tag at Chick fil-a two days ago, and all of a sudden we hear him cry: he hit his nose against the corner of the bench in the play area, and I must say, that was the worst damage he ever did to his nose!
It took forever to stop the bleeding, the day after was picture day (our luck!), and we thought it was bad, until this morning, when we woke up and noticed that not only the nose was swollen, but the blood had gone down in the eye and so that was swollen too!
Well, we point to him that he really did a number on that nose, and he candidly asked:"What number is it?"
We couldn't help but laugh!
Our kids really say the funniest things, and long ago I decided to have a planner where I would put all the silly, sweet, funny things they say, as soon as I can , so that I won't forget. I will eventually make a book with all these phrases.
Today I decided that it was so funny that it deserved a page of its own, so here it is:

If you think about it, the memories of these funny things are what we keep dear and tell us a lot about our children, and it would really be a pity to forget them, so I exhort you to take the time to write down, on a piece of paper, on a notebook or even better, a dedicated planner, all the things they say and that you don't want to forget!

Even this is family history.

Can you imagine in 20-40-60 years from now when your children and their children will read about it?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Nowadays seems like we are asking more and more to our children, and we are involving them in more and more activities, and while this allows them to discover their full potential, it could also end up being a little counterproductive.
Ever heard your child uttering these words:
I CAN'T DO IT!!!
My child does it a little too much, and just saying that I know he can do it, wasn't convincing him so much, so I decided that he needed something that would make him realize him that he can do many things.
How about a book about him and what he CAN do?
I got inspired by a fellow HM consultant, Kelly Barquin and created a 5x5 book similar to the 8x8 book she had created for her child, recording as many things my 5 year old can do as possible.

When the book arrived on my door step, I couldn't wait for my child to come home from school and see it!
He loved it, and also was able to read some words, and could see that the phrase I CAN was everywhere.

We read the book together and he was so proud to have a book about him and the great things he can do!
Now I can show him the book every time he is discouraged, and tell him he CAN do it, supported by a whole book about him!

I think this is now his favorite, among all the books I have created for him, and our family!
You can see a preview of the whole book here.
You can improve your child self esteem too creating a book about him/her, like the one I created, or one with all of his/her artwork, a magazine cover featuring your child, family games with his pictures, creating his own genealogy tree...

Using the HM Studio 3.0 super easy online software, you can really create any kind of project to not only preserve your heritage but also "change" the story for someone!

Monday, September 14, 2009

I have been looking for genealogy quotes lately, and I have found quotes of various kind: funny, sad, morbid, serious...
There are some that have really stuck with me, so I have decided that I will start creating a layout for the ones I like most.
This is the first one I created in a 5x7 postcard format, that can eventually be framed:

How do you like it?
I would like to invite you to send me any kind of genealogy quotes you have, I will read them all, and create layouts out of the ones that inspire me most, or make me laugh most!
Even better, if you have your own free HM publishing account, you can easily create a layout for your favorite genealogy quote and if you like you can send it to me, I will be happy to share it on my blog. It can be anything, a post card, a greeting card, a scrap page, the beginning of a storybook, a poster even a page of calendar, anything you can come up with!
Hmm...It surely would be a great gift for any genealogist if you create a calendar with the best genealogy quotes you can find and embellish it with photos of his/her ancestors!
As you can see, the ideas are endless!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

We all know what greeting cards are for, but when you are completely free to design them and to use all the pictures, word, embellishment you feel to use, you start to come up with various ideas, like:

A cute calendar card
You can insert it in one of those double 5x7 acrylic frames and it will be perfect on your desk!

A desktop frame card
Perfect to use with one of those acrylic frames you can find in any craft store.

A menu card
Perfect for a wedding, but also for any special occasion. You can make it as simple or as scrappy as you like.

A newsletter card
Your loved ones want to hear from you, and not all of them have emails, or facebook, so you can send a brief newsletter to let them know about your life. You can do it once a year( i.e: Christmas) once a month or any time you feel like it, and you'll see a new habit among all your relative: Greeting card collections (mostly yours!).

Ok, so you are so excited and want to start writing a book about your mom, your grandpa, your child or even yourself, but all of a sudden you stop because you don't know where to start and what you should put in the book!

All I have to say is: Thank goodness for Story maps! All you have to do is get up and go interview the person you want to write about using the simple questions and storyline that you will find in each specific story map.

If your loved one is too far away, grab the phone, and call them, with the added bonus of making that person's day because you thought of him/her.

Our story maps help you plan your storybook from cover to cover. Use our maps as a template and have your "hero" answer the questions provided or create your own questions. You'll find interview questions, photo suggestions, and even writing tips!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Where were you that day?9/11/ signed the life not just of the people that were directly impacted by the loss of their dear ones or were were simply "bothered" by some flight delay, it touched each and everyone of us.I was still living in Italy that year, but I was shocked at the news even because a long lost cousin that I had finally found after long research, was living in New York, and I feared that he might have been at the Twin Towers that day.Thankfully he and his family members were all safe, but I was still heartbroken at the thought of all those people that died and all the ones that were left to mourn their loss.I found the preview of this Storybook about 9/11 created with HM and I thought I would share. It is a beautiful way to help us remember. Click on the image above if you desire to read it.

Life is full of many unforgettable events, either good of bad, it is important that they are remembered, not just by us, but by those who will come after us. 9/11 is not the only event that has signed our life, each of them teaches us something, and it is our duty to pass onto our children the lessons that we learn.

I encourage you to take the time today to write even a few lines to share your thoughts with your loved ones, to send a card to a distant relative, to make that call to that friend of yours that moved long time ago.

If you don't do it already, start journaling, write about your feelings, your ideas, your thoughts, the events that have changed you, the lessons you have learned, every possible counsel you would like your family, your children, your friends to have.

Life is indeed short, and we don't know when our time on earth will come to an end. Most of the times, there is no evident warning.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Time is the reason why we have calendars, because we want to know what day it is and have an idea of the days we have ahead of us.
Our ancestors might be from another time, but they still represent TIME, so I thought it would be a nice idea to create a family history calendar. I could use the calendar format, which is great, but some times I like to do something different, so I am thinking of a set 5x7 desktop calendars.
The idea is to have on the front the picture of one of your ancestors with maybe their name and the calendar of the month, and on the back there can be a quote, info on the ancestors, fun facts, and anything that might inspire you.
This is my first attempt at this desktop calendar:

If you like the landscape format, this is a possible layout:

You can make these calendars as simple or as scrappy as you like, and once you have them printed and shipped at your house, all you need is a tabletop frame, one of those acrylic ones will just do, or you can go for something fancier, you choose.
You can also just make these calendars with your children pictures, or even their artwork.
Anything that is connected to your family is part of your family history, so go ahead, express yourself!
I hope I tickled your imagination, you are welcome to share your ideas with a comment.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

My first passion has always been taking pictures. I wanted to record every moment of my life! When I discovered genealogy, a new world of possibilities opened to me, because I could now document the life of the ones that came before me. Finally I discovered the limitless creative possibilities with Heritage Makers.

Now I am able to merge my passions in what I call creative Genealogy.

I like to show off my ancestors and my actual family through the pages and posters I create, and also I love writing my family history, complementing it with pictures and beautifying it with the amazing embellishments, papers and tools in the Studio 3.0 editor.
Here is a few examples of my "creative genealogy":

Our family genealogy tree with our wedding picture in the middle, our children at the base and our parents and grandparent's pictures.

Here is a portrait genealogy tree I created armed with a lot of patience. I spent quite some time on this tree, copying and pasting a bunch of leaves to create the full tree effect, but I am pretty proud of it. Maybe I will change the trunk, but it gives you the idea.

My husband is so blessed to have many pictures of his ancestors, so I have been able to create this 5 generation page, starting from my son to his great-great grandfather. Isn't it precious? This is the genealogy 4 generation cheat-sheet foldout I created first for my children, like the one I then perfected for my husband a couple weeks ago.

These are the last pages of a Family faces book I created for my children so that they will know all their family, the ones in USA and the ones in Europe, the ones that preceded us and the ones that are still with us.

Here I just have a composite of the Hall family pictures. can you imagine a 20x24 canvas like this for your own family pictures?

How about a cool family game where each player will have to guess who's the family member in that picture, or answer the questions on the cards? Check the whole deck of cards here.

Well, doesn't family history start from your own family? So here is our family!^_^

More projects in my mind are a calendar with family history pictures, a cookbook with the secret family recipes, a complete family game board with answers to find in a family book, and many more.
Don't worry, I will share them with you as I create them.

Have you been inspired yet? What is your idea of "Creative Genealogy"?

I talked about one way to get started on your Family History by focusing on a special couple or generations, using the Heritage Calend...

Welcome!

Thank you for stopping by!I love sharing my Creative Genealogy ideas and love it especially when I get your input, so go ahead, leave me a comment, ask questions, let me know how my ideas might have helped you and share your own ideas!Preserve your memories before they fade!

Followers

About Me

I am a Genealogist, Family Historian and Personal Publishing consultant.I love what I do. I truly enjoy helping people bring their heritage to life.
I am Italian, and proud of it, but as of January 2008, I am American too.
I was born in Italy and lived there for 30 years until, in 2003, I came to Florida to marry the Love of my Life, Chris and start our Eternal Family.
We now have 4 wonderful boys, Joseph, Jacob Luca and Mattia, and I love them more than anything!
That is why I love my job since it allows me to stay at home, take care of them, and at the same time bring income in my house helping others discover the power of Storybooking and the beauty of Creative Genealogy.

New template preview!

Every story deserves to be written

A picture is worth a thousand words... Are you going to write them?

16x20 canvas

Preserve your heritage!

I love creating with Heritage Makers!It is so easy, and there are 65000 plus embellishments to choose from that help me create wonderful projects!I have always a project going and love the fact that they can be used for just about any special occasion: birthdays, graduation, weddings, anniversary, mothers day, father's day, Christmas, thank yous, just because...I love that I can make my special yearbooks, and write the story of my life to share with my children, so that they might know who their mom is.I lost my dad when I was 13, so I never had the chance to interview him. You never know when it's too late! Don't waste time, call your dear ones today and set a time to interview them ASAP, or even better, interview them on the phone!